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Cricket Drafting Games Starter Kit

stephen

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Introduction

So you have decided to dip your toes into the world of cricket drafting. There is a culture around drafting on CricketWeb that relies on many written and unwritten rules. This is about documenting some of that culture in an attempt to help you get started. To distinguish between cricketers and people who draft, this document will refer to cricket players as "cricketers" and people who draft as "drafters". It will avoid the use of the term "player" wherever possible.

What is a draft?

Drafting is the act of selecting cricketers for a cricket side in a competitive format, pretending that the sides in the draft will face off against each other. These rules are common to every cricket draft:
  • You are selecting a cricket side, which means selecting either 11 or 12 cricketers (unless someone wants to run a Hong Kong sixes draft).
  • Your side should aim to have one wicketkeeper and at least 4 bowlers for a test side and 5 bowlers (including part timers) for an ODI/T20 side.
  • You should try to select the best side you can, according to your judgment
  • Drafters select in some kind of order which may change throughout the draft
  • Cricketers already picked in the draft are unavailable for selection
Standard/Baseline/Classic draft

In a cricketweb draft, there are a standard set of rules that apply to all drafts. These rules are generally unwritten and are assumed to be true unless a rule overrides them. This documents the standard written and unwritten rules. Variations will be dealt with later in this post.
  • If you sign up for a draft you are agreeing to play by the rules and be kind and respect other drafters. See the section on "code of conduct" below.
  • If you are hosting a draft, you are agreeing to run the draft, which includes ensuring that drafters understand the rules and ensuring the draft runs smoothly by posting regular updates on the draft progress
These rules are considered to be default rules but are quite often changed to meet the needs of the draft:
  • The draft is a draft for test cricketers to play fictional/hypothetical tests.
  • The draft is conducted in a "snake" fashion. This means that every odd round, the order of players is randomised and the order is reversed on the even rounds. The final round is completely randomised.
  • Bradman is banned.
  • When it is your turn to pick a player you must pick within 12h on the first round and 8h on every subsequent round. If you do not pick, you will be skipped and will make up any missed picks when you return, but lose the opportunity to select cricketers that were picked by other players in your absence. During lockdown the player selection windows have been growing shorter and shorter. This rule is very flexible and in some recent drafts two players at a time have been considered "active".
  • At the conclusion of the draft each drafter will post their team and the draft host will create a new thread with a list of the teams for people to vote on. The "winner" of the draft is the player who receives the most votes after 7 days.
Variants

Most of the drafts hosted on here will be variants on the classic draft type. There are many common ways of varying a draft, and a few uncommon ways. Here are a few examples, though it is not exhaustive. These can be combined and changed in many ways and new ideas will lead to new drafts.
  • Draft for ODI/T20 cricketers
  • The cricketers selected must meet some condition (runs scored/batting or bowling averages/ number of tests/ era etc...)
  • Your team composition must meet a condition (countries of origin, maximum combined batting average etc...)
  • The draft order is changed by your actions (order determined by lowest combined batting average/number of tests etc...)
  • The cricketers available for selection is determined by other drafters selections (for example, you must pick a cricketer with an average within +/- 3 runs of the last cricketer selected)
Code of Conduct

For Drafters:
  • Be kind
  • If you are committing to a draft, please commit to it. Don't leave without notice half way through the draft. If you need to withdraw from the draft for personal reasons, please do so as soon as possible.
  • When it is your turn try to take it as soon as possible (i.e. don't hold up the draft)
  • Aggressive or abusive behaviour is not tolerated. We're all doing this for fun. There's a difference between reacting with an anger emoticon to someone's choice of player and writing an abusive post. A fun, mock anger is permitted and even encouraged. Abuse is definitely not welcome. The litmus test is about how it will make the person feel. If it will make them feel smarter for their choices then it's good. If it will make them react with anger then it's bad.
  • This is not the place for extended discussions about the best players in history. The place for that is cricket chat.
  • Don't talk specifically about unselected players. Generalisations are ok. An example of bad - "You should select Salim Malik for his integrity". An example of good - "There are still some honest cricketers left to pick".
For Draft Hosts:
  • Be kind
  • If you are committing to hosting a draft you're committing to ensuring players understand and follow the rules. This doesn't mean you're on every minute of the day, but it does mean that you will be frequently checking in on the thread and ensuring that drafters are aware of the current situation (whose turn it is, what the round order is etc...)
  • All of the conduct for the drafters applies to you as well
  • You should participate in at least one other draft before starting your own
Voting

Most drafts are decided by vote. To do this the draft host starts a new thread, lists every team that was drafted and adds a poll, with one option per team. After a period of time (normally 7 days), the voting period ends and the winner is declared. Please list the winner in the hall of fame thread.

Please note that when you vote you are expected to vote for team(s) other than your own. Everyone thinks their own team is the best and they're usually wrong. Votes for yourself likely won't count and will make others think you are vain and not want to draft with you in the future.

Tips and Pointers

  • When you take your pick in a draft, ping the next drafter so that they know they are up. It is as simple as typing the '@' character followed by the drafter's name (eg @stephen).
  • If you are the draft host, try and find someone to keep the draft running if you need to disappear for a few days. Most drafters are pretty good at keeping the draft moving, but if new round orders are required, waiting for several days can suck the fun out of a draft.
  • Consider posting the order of drafters for each round before the draft kicks off.

Draft Template

Feel free to copy/paste the following into your new draft thread as a template for the original post:

Draft Name

Rules

Draft Type: Test
Time for picks: 12h first round, 8h thereafter
Draft order: snake draft
Special Rules:
  • You may do the thing
  • You may not do this other thing
  • Cricketers you select must meet this criteria
Who is in?

Round order:

Round 1

Bob
Fred
Mohammed
Ruby
Saladin
Alfred
Anita
Yoko

Round 2

Yoko
Anita
Alfred
Saladin
Ruby
Mohammed
Fred
Bob
 
Last edited:

stephen

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Let me know if I've missed anything or anything is unclear and I'll fix it up.

Please sticky this thread mods.
 

Daemon

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Could add something about the voting that comes after and a link to the draft winners thread
 

JOJOXI

International Vice-Captain
Thank you for writing this, can imagine it will really help new members who might have an interest in drafts but don't take the plunge.
 

stephen

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
In all seriousness, the difference between banter and abuse can be hard to spot at times, but it's where a comment is intended to hurt instead of amuse the target of the comment.

It takes time and understanding of the other people on the forum. There's a line and if you don't know where it is, find the nearest Australian and they'll explain it to you :p.
 

stephen

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
The point of writing that is to help someone start off on the right foot. The forum rules all still apply. This is more of a guide than anything that is enforced (though you might not be allowed to draft of you make an arse of yourself).
 

honestbharani

Whatever it takes!!!
Oh man... Gotta pack my draft XIs with Aussies now for the mod vote. :p


Seriously, you deserve this @stephen. All the best. :) Glad you are mod of this section for a game we all love playing.
 

Red

The normal awards that everyone else has
I like the idea here but all these things aren’t necessarily always applicable. Eg, in some drafts the general “no Bradman” rule doesn’t apply and often there’s a penalty if he’s selected etc etc. I don’t think a straight “no Bradman” rule should be in this stickied guide as it’s often not been the case. Also the times of 12/8 hours can be variable and should be decided by the draft organiser pre draft.
 

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